Hi Destiny no if I was in a position to to buy I might rent one , hmm never thought to put ball head on R16 funny how you don't think of the simple things sometimes the level in the camera is a handy feature especially for 360 stuff ,Acratech ball head is on my list of things to get the one I have is Markins Chinese copy sort of works but is very heavy and vague in use, I look forward to seeing the results when you get it cheers Rolly1

Its seems you are not the only one not to think to do this.. I did a search on the internet with not one single image of this setup.. To me it seems obvious but I guess thats due to the fact I have both of them... I bought my Acratech ball head years go.. Its a beautiful thing.. Very well made.... They make really nice gear.. I would love to own one of their Panoramic Heads, it would work great with my D800 + Sigma 50-500mm. http://acratech.net/product.php?product ... t=1&page=1I chatted to a lady at Acratech for a few months prior to the release of this head.. Its not what I was expecting but its still nice... It needs a plate to bring the lens back to create a sphere.. I tried to explain this but it was lots on them.. It also need an option to centre the lens to the centre point too... Not all cameras have the screw point set at the centre.... Again lost on them.. Oh well.. Its possible to still use as far as I know, with lens plates bars and perhaps use a small one to centre the lens but I might be wrong...... http://acratech.net/home.php?cat=20

Very nice gear Acratech makes so buy if you can.. You will have it for years.. 10/10 for quality...

Destiny looks a bit silly doesn't it, I went over my download limit can't believe how slow the net goes when you do that, 7 days of pain , did you see that Tamron are bringing out a 150 to 600 mill stabilised lens no price or any thing yet cheers rolly1

I bet you are with Telstra or Optus.. If so.. Dump them.. Go with Westnet for everything.. My mobile cost $20 per month with internet and as long as my husband phones me just once, we get $1000 each worth of calls.. If you have prepay, thats ok, just get your mobile unlocked and then they will send you a new sim card.. Phone them and talk.. You can also keep your ph numbers....

Hi Destiny,I purchased a brand new Sigma 50-500mm OS a couple of weeks ago from a Perth retailer.I got it for $1216 Tax Inc, and it has a full 2 year Australian CR Kennedy warranty (not grey import).

There is a trick to get it at this price, so message me if you need more info.

The Lens is the newer model (smooth external finish), and was supplied direct through CR Kennedy (I dealt with the W.A Area Manager and the National Sales Manager myself).

The Lens is perfect on my D800. The Stabilization (OS) works well, giving me about a 90% infocus hit ratio, and a big plus, is if you need extra reach, the lens works with full Autofocus on a Kenko 1.4 Pro 300 DGX teleconverter.

I also use this lens on a Nikon V2 with FT-1 adapter (giving 2.7x crop factor). I get a focal length of 1350mm with the benefit of only using the centre of the optics (no falloff). The Camera sensor only gives me 14 megapixels, but being mirrorless it captures full resolution at 60fps. Awesome!

The only negatives, are that the aperture steps up to f5.6 at 135mm, then f6 at 200mm, then f6.3 at 280mm (all a bit too early in the focal range IMO).Also, there is no noticeable improvement in IQ if stopping down beyond f6.3. And finally, the weight of the thing is gonna give you Popeye forearms before you realize it. Saying that though, the other brands/models are no lighter.

I did test the new 80-400mm, and it's no better, its more than double the price, and you lose 100mm at the long end. Nikon need to do their homework, because nobody is buying them.

A Monopod recommendation is to use the Manfrotto 682B Self Standing. I use it, and it does everything I want. I bought one brand new, a year ago on ebay for $130 delivered (bargain).

Hi John.. I too checked out the 80-400mm but at over double the price of a Sigma 50-500mm, it does not seem to be good value for money.. Its supposed to be sharp but so is the 50-500mm.. The shorter the zoom the sharper it will be... but at full zoom I tripod would be best.. Even though the stabilising system is excellent... It needs to be set to 1 for normal use..

Destiny wrote:Hi John.. I too checked out the 80-400mm but at over double the price of a Sigma 50-500mm, it does not seem to be good value for money.. Its supposed to be sharp but so is the 50-500mm.. The shorter the zoom the sharper it will be... but at full zoom I tripod would be best.. Even though the stabilising system is excellent... It needs to be set to 1 for normal use..

eemmm... I would never be able to lift it.. It probably weights more than me.... To be honest, I do not think I buy it even if I was rich.... Unless I got enthusiastic about the stars.. But around here, they are not so bright.. Centre Australia is just amazing.. The night sky is filled with millions of stars.. To use that lens there, I would need a big trailer to get it there... or put wheels on it.. That one you posted I would suspect it will not sell in any hurry since it is damaged and the support is missing.... I do not think that would be ready available....

Destiny have you got your lens yet ? John said some good points on aperture and focal length limitations but only way around that is with constant 2.8 etc and money , my first hurdle will be out of the way this week ,will be upgrading to ptp 2 this week I think or a carbon fibre tripod the 055 ali is just getting to heavy, getting old really stinks ha ha then wide angle lens then best affordable tele lens cheers Rolly1

Yes Rolly1... I bought it.. I really had to .. We put a Lay-by deposit on it so if we did not buy it after a month we could have lost the deposit.. So we took out a bank loan to buy it.... I love it.. Its all I wanted and more.. Silly rain is keeping me in-doors, but I have captured some nice photos with it.. These are my results so far... I need to capture some flowers and a giga pixel images too..

Just about full zoom on these Rolly1.. and... hand held.. ... Just love this lens.. I need to keep a record of my settings... but this will obviously change somewhat depending on the setting/light etc..

Destiny very nice ,I will be 61 next birthday don't want to break the lens ha ha ,having troubles coming to grips with the net I don't know how to add pics to this forum not even sure about smile faces ,should start a new post best affordable carbon fibre tripod to suit panogear or NN5 no smaller than 055 manfrotto aluminium what do you think cheers rolly1

Not quite full zoom but good job its 500mm.. I have never been able to capture this close.. They get spooked and run away.. I will go back with a Tripod and set the shutter to as fast as I can.. When they jump off they look sooo awesome... but all I got today was blur.. I was not ready for them to move off so quick.. I got too close.. These are Big Red Giant Kangaroos.. They are way over twice my hight.. Perhaps 4meters high...